Snapshot: Maruti is planning to ramp up AMT (AGS) production in next 2 years and the manufacturing could shift to a new plant.

Maruti Suzuki has seen pretty good response with the AMT equipped cars in India and now the brand is ready to step up the production of its dual-pedal models in coming years. The brand has revealed that it plans to ramp up production of AMT (popularly known as AGS) in next two years. Also, the production could shift to a new facility as well.

As the demands for the clutchless cars are increasing in the country market, Maruti Suzuki aims to grab a greater share in the segment and the plan to ramp up production of AMT comes as part of that strategy. Interestingly, Maruti launched its first AMT equipped car back in 2014 and since then the AMT models has seen rapid growth.

In the FY2015-16, AMT equipped cars contributed 3.5% of Maruti Suzuki’s total sales volume. The number doubled in FY2017-18 and the auto manufacturer believes this number will grow significantly in next few years. To cater the rising demand, Maruti Suzuki needs a dedicated AMT production facility. Currently several models from the brand come equipped with AMT. These models include the Celerio, Ignis, Dzire, Alto K10, Swift and WagonR.

The first Maruti car to receive the AMT was Celerio. Presently, 40% of the total Celerio sales are contributed by AMT equipped variants. So far, the automaker has sold more than 1 lakh units of the AMT cars in India and in the FY2018, Maruti targets to sell 1.5 lakh units of AMT models. The number is expected to reach to 3 lakh units by 2020. Interestingly, Maruti is not the only brand, but its closest competitor in terms of sales, Hyundai too has promised to introduce dual-pedal technology in all its cars by 2020. Clearly, Maruti wants to stay on top of the segment and ramping up AMT production will help it to achieve that target.